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Ken O'Brien, men’s cross country and track and field coach emeritus and former head coach, died June 3 at the age of 82, UMass Athletics announced this week.

In O’Brien’s 50 seasons coaching cross country and track and field at UMass from 1967-2016, the Minutemen won 19 conference titles (Yankee, Eastern and Atlantic 10), four New England crowns, two IC4A titles and he mentored 13 individual NCAA qualifiers seven All-America performers.

O’Brien was instrumental in the founding of the UMass women’s cross country and track and field programs and served as head coach of those programs from their inception in 1975-76 through 1987.

Following the 2008 cross country season, O’Brien was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year for a second time, as the Minutemen finished first in the league. It was the second-ever Minutemen A-10 Cross Country title, the first coming in 1995 when he earned his first coach of the year recognition. 

In 1999, O’Brien was named NCAA District 1 Track and Field Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season, and the fourth time he won the award in track and field to go along with District 1 Coach of the Year honors for cross country on four different occasions. 

He was inducted into the UMass Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2016.

In its announcement of O’Brien’s death, UMass Athletics included remembrances from many of those O’Brien coached, mentored and befriended during his half-century at UMass, which can be found here.